Lê Chiêu Thống facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chiêu Thống Emperor 昭統帝
Qing Chinese officials receiving deposed Vietnamese emperor Lê Chiêu Thống
Emperor of Đại Việt
Reign	1786–1789
Predecessor	Lê Hiển Tông
Successor	Quang Trung of the Tây Sơn dynasty
Regent	Trịnh Bồng (1786–1787)
Born	1765 Đông Kinh, Đại Việt
Died	1793 (aged 27–28) Beijing, Qing China
Burial	November 1804 Bàn Thạch village, Thanh Hoa, Việt Nam
Full name Lê Duy Khiêm (黎維) Lê Duy Kỳ (黎維祁) Era dates Chiêu Thống (昭統) Posthumous name Mẫn Hoàng đế (愍帝)
House	Lê dynasty
Father	Lê Duy Vĩ
Mother	Empress Dowager Mẫn

Birth name
Vietnamese alphabet	Lê Duy Khiêm
Chữ Hán	黎維

Lê Chiêu Thống (born Lê Duy Khiêm, later Lê Duy Kỳ) was the very last emperor of the Lê dynasty in Vietnam. He lived from 1765 to 1793. Another group, the Tây Sơn dynasty, took over his rule. Lê Chiêu Thống asked the Qing dynasty of China for help to get his throne back. But he lost a big battle called the Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa. After this, the Chinese emperor, Qianlong Emperor, stopped supporting him. Many of his family members were put in prison in Vietnam. Lê Chiêu Thống himself died in China. The Chinese emperor even sent other Lê family members to faraway places like Xinjiang and Heilongjiang.

Early Life of Lê Chiêu Thống

Lê Duy Khiêm was the oldest son of Lê Duy Vĩ. His father was the first crown prince to Emperor Lê Hiển Tông. In 1771, Lê Duy Khiêm's father was killed by a powerful lord named Trịnh Sâm. After this, Lê Duy Khiêm was put in jail.

Years later, in 1783, another lord named Trịnh Khải changed things. He removed the current crown prince, Lê Duy Cận. Instead, he made Lê Duy Khiêm the new crown prince of the Lê dynasty.

Becoming Emperor and His Reign

Chinese officials receiving the deposed Lê Chiêu Thống

In 1786, a general from the Tây Sơn dynasty, Nguyễn Huệ, led his army north. They defeated the powerful Trịnh lords. The next year, 1787, Emperor Lê Hiển Tông passed away. Nguyễn Huệ then made Lê Duy Khiêm the new emperor, Lê Chiêu Thống. After this, Nguyễn Huệ took most of his soldiers back to Phú Xuân.

Some members of the Trịnh family tried to take power again. Two Trịnh heirs, Trịnh Bồng and Trịnh Lệ, appeared. Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống chose Trịnh Bồng to be the next Trịnh lord. This made Trịnh Lệ angry, and he started a rebellion. After Trịnh Lệ's forces were defeated, Trịnh Bồng became very powerful in northern Vietnam. However, he was not a good leader, and the region became very chaotic.

Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống then asked for help from Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh. He was a Tây Sơn governor in Nghệ An. Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh led an army north. He easily defeated the Trịnh army and captured Thăng Long (now Hanoi). Trịnh Bồng had to run away. After bringing peace to the area, Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh started to use his power for himself. This caused problems for Nguyễn Huệ.

When Nguyễn Huệ heard about Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh's actions, he sent a general named Vũ Văn Nhậm north. Vũ Văn Nhậm quickly defeated and killed Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh. He took control of Thăng Long. But then, Vũ Văn Nhậm tried to take power for himself too. So, Nguyễn Huệ sent two more generals to stop Vũ Văn Nhậm and take back Thăng Long.

Meanwhile, Lê Chiêu Thống fled to the far north of Vietnam. He refused Nguyễn Huệ's offers to return. He gathered a small army of people loyal to the Lê dynasty. He also sent his family to China to ask for help from the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor agreed and sent a very large army to northern Vietnam.

With the support of the Lê king, the large Qing army easily pushed the Tây Sơn out of northern Vietnam. They took over Thăng Long. After the Qing army occupied northern Vietnam, their leader, Sun Shiyi, put Lê Chiêu Thống back on the throne. He was a puppet ruler, meaning he didn't have much real power. Even so, he began to get revenge on Tây Sơn supporters. He also forced people to give him food, even though there was war and famine.

The actions of Lê Chiêu Thống and the Qing invasion gave Nguyễn Huệ a good reason to become emperor. It also made him popular with the people in northern Vietnam. On December 22, 1788, Nguyễn Huệ declared himself Emperor Quang Trung. He officially announced that the Lê dynasty had ended. He then led his army north. Even though the Tây Sơn army was smaller, they defeated the unprepared Qing troops. This happened in a series of battles during the 1789 Lunar New Year celebration. The rest of the Qing army had to flee in confusion. Lê Chiêu Thống also fled to China, which marked the end of the Lê dynasty.

Exile and Final Years

Lê Chiêu Thống and other high-ranking Lê loyalists fled Vietnam. They found safety in Qing China and went to Beijing. Lê Chiêu Thống was given a job as a Chinese official. Other loyalists were sent to work on government land and join the army in places like Sichuan and Zhejiang. They started to wear Chinese clothes and adopt the queue hairstyle. This meant they became citizens of the Qing dynasty. This protected them from Vietnam asking for them to be sent back. Today, some descendants of the Lê monarch live in southern Vietnam.

After the war, Nguyễn Huệ asked China to recognize him as the new ruler. China agreed, but with some conditions. The Qing Empire recognized Nguyễn Huệ as the new ruler of Vietnam. They gave him the traditional title "An Nam Quốc Vương" (King of An Nam). From this point on, Lê Chiêu Thống did not receive any more help from the Qing dynasty of China. He spent the rest of his life in China and died in 1793.

In 1802, when people from the Nguyễn dynasty visited China, Lê dynasty loyalists asked for a special favor. They wanted to bring Lê Chiêu Thống's remains back to Vietnam. The Jiaqing Emperor agreed. The Jiaqing Emperor also set free all the followers of Lê Chiêu Thống who were imprisoned in China.

Lê Chiêu Thống's remains are buried in Bàn Thạch village, Thanh Hóa, Vietnam. After his death, he was given the special title Mẫn Đế.

Images for kids

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  Coins issued during the reign of Lê Chiêu Thống